We Used To Be Friends
by Ultrawoman
Summary: A collection of unrelated one-shots, originally written for prompt memes, challenges, etc. over at Livejournal, re-posted here for those that have not seen them. Various lengths, ratings, and settings, but all Logan/Veronica, and all written before the movie existed.
1. Y is for Yearbook

**Title** **: Y is for Yearbook**

 **Prompt by** **: sanya4**

 **Rating** **: PG**

 **Setting** **: AU 9 years post-series**

 **Word Count** **: 390**

 **Prompt** **: yearbook**

It was ten long years since Veronica Mars had graduated from Neptune High School, six since she left the town she spent her formative years in and headed for the horizon, never looking back.

Unfortunately, eventually people force you to do just that, to look at your past and see what you make of it all now. Today was such a day for Veronica as she sifted through her mail and got quite a suprise from one sneaky little envelope, the contents of which informed her there was to be a reunion at Neptune High for the class of 2006.

She could just not go, Veronica knew it was the easier option, but fate was apparently against her. No sooner had she told herself to just forget it, she walked into her room, opened the closet to select a change of clothes and almost received a free lobotomy from a box of old school trinkets on the top shelf. Chief amongst the items they skittered across the floor at her feet was her yearbook.

Within minutes the lure had become too much and Veronica was under the thrall of the past. Sitting lotus style on the rug, her eyes scanned pages of prom queens, jocks, nerds, and loners, her fingers tracing names and faces she could never forget - Wallace, Mac, Duncan, Meg, Logan...

Flipping to the back, she read each message written for her in her last few days as a high school student. So many thanked her for her kick-ass PI skills, a couple of guys actually left phone numbers! Dick wished her a good sex life, and Mac referred to her as Bond.

Then Veronica's eyes came to rest on the most familiar of handwriting as she traced the words he'd written and his name as he signed it - Logan Echolls.

Four weeks later, Veronica walked back into the High School she believed she always hated and thought she would never miss, wearing her emergency little black dress and an unexpected smile.

Sure enough, she found him instantly in the crowd (Logan always did stand out) and echoing in Veronica's mind as she walked on over to him were these simple words he'd written ten years ago:

 _I meant what I said, we're epic_

When their eyes met, they both knew he'd been right all along.


	2. X is for X-Terra

**Title** **: X is for X-Terra**

 **Prompt by** **: sanya4**

 **Rating** **: PG**

 **Setting** **: post-Season 2**

 **Word Count** **: 453**

 **Prompt** **: X-Terra**

"Are you sure about this?" asked Veronica from the passenger seat as Logan drove towards the garage to pick up his new car.

"Sure, why not?" he responded easily as the turned the corner into the next street.

His girlfriend opened her mouth to answer then closed it again fast. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to say to that. This car sure held a lot of memories, both good and bad, but either way she was going to miss it when it was traded in for something else.

"I don't know," she admitted with a shrug. "I mean, you and the X-Terra have been through a lot together" she reasoned. "And I get the whole moving on to college thing, moving onto a new car, maybe a new circle of friends..."

Veronica got no further with what she was saying as Logan put the car in park and leaned over, taking her face in his hands and kissing her firmly on the mouth.

Since she wasn't expecting it and barely had time to breathe, it did at least mean Veronica could not continue rambling when they parted, and instead her boyfriend got a chance to speak.

"I'm trading in a car, Veronica," he pointed out to her. "Not you."

"C'mon," she huffed. "Like I ever even thought about that," she said, making a face that Logan tried his best not to smirk at.

As they both got out of the X-Terra, and Logan went over to the garage owner to talk about the deal they were going to make, Veronica lagged behind. She wondered at her own thoughts and feelings. Had she really been scared that in changing things in his life, Logan might want to change her? Just trade her in for a better girlfriend that would be less high maintenance, easier to handle, simpler to love?

She ought to have known better, and she knew it. It wasn't as if she wasn't tough enough to take on the world alone, because hell, she'd done it before, but she didn't want to these days. Logan had always been a big part of her life, but it was perhaps only today when she truly realised how much she always wanted that to be true.

"Hey," his voice in her ear startled her from too long in too deep thought. "You up for a test drive?" he asked, wrapping his arm around her back and gesturing towards his possible new wheels.

"A test drive?" Veronica echoed with a smile as she saw his expression. "Or a test _park_?" she asked him.

"How about we just see where the mood takes us?" he suggested.

Yeah, Veronica could live with that plan, for now.


	3. J is for Jealousy

**Title** **: J is for Jealousy**

 **Prompt by** **: sanya4**

 **Rating** **: PG**

 **Setting** **: unknown**

 **Word Count** **: 395**

 **Prompt** **: jealousy**

"I'm not sure my boyfriend would like that," said Veronica with a girlish giggle that was far removed from her usual laugh.

"Well, he never has to know about it, baby," said the guy on the other end of the phone line, not a clue that his voice was broadcasting loud and clear into the Mars Investigations office _and_ being recorded as evidence for later.

"So, eight o'clock by the fountain in the park," his supposed-date for tomorrow night said softly. "Don't forget the money."

"Not a chance, sweetheart," the man replied, his tone making the blonde's flesh crawl more than a little bit, not least because he was easily twice her age and knew it too. "See you then."

The call ended then, just in time, Veronica realised, as Logan's hands had curled into fists somewhere between him coming in the door and now.

"Next time I come pick you up for lunch," he said, as evenly as he could manage. "I'm gonna wait outside in the car," he told his girlfriend pointedly.

"It's just a cover, Logan, and you know that," Veronica reminded him as she got up from her seat and crossed over to the coat rack to get her jacket. "I'm not actually going to meet the guy and... do that," she said with a vague gesture and distinct look of distaste as she returned to his side.

"I know," he shrugged, like he wasn't bothered, even though he had already proved that wasn't the case. "I mean, what's that rich, good-looking, popular, Harvard-smart playboy businessman got that I don't, right?"

"Ooh, what's this?" she asked with a grin she couldn't help as she put her arms up around his neck and stepped in close. "A hint of jealousy?"

"Of course not," Logan told her, putting his hands to her waist as he pulled her closer still, dropping a kiss on the end of her nose. "Jealousy would involve piano wire, remember?" he told her with a smirk she ought to have expected.

He just had to bring up the fact that her own jealous streak was a mile wide to match his own, but that was okay. At least it proved they cared for each other, loved each other so much they couldn't bear the thought of being with anybody else.

Neither of them could ask for more than that.


	4. Last Man Standing

**Title** **: Last Man Standing**

 **Prompt by** **: n/a - for the Girl Saves Boy comm**

 **Rating** **: PG-13**

 **Setting** **: AU post-Season 3**

 **Word Count** **: 1,228**

 **Prompt** **: n/a - for the Girls Saves Boy comm**

Veronica Mars had truly believed that her father becoming Sheriff of Neptune for a second time was the best thing that could happen to her little family of two. Unfortunately, her joy lasted just a few short months, until Keith Mars was shot dead in the line of duty.

People had thought Veronica turned hard, cold, and distant after the death of her best friend, Lilly Kane, perhaps more so when her mother walked out on her, when her friends all turned their backs. She had come through so much, and all the stronger for it. Bad relationships, attempted rape, even attempted murder, a multitude of back-stabbing friends and much worse enemies. Nothing could break her, that's what people thought, but those that knew her best were clear that Veronica Mars was a marshmallow on the inside.

Neptune was no home to her with her father gone. Honestly, Veronica wasn't sure any place ever could be again. She threw herself into her studies, concentrating only on making her deceased father proud as he watched over her from some other plain. The irony that his life insurance allowed her to fulfil a dream was a bittersweet pill. Transferring to Stanford barely softened the blow of her loss, but Veronica worked her ass off those last two years of college, away from the place that was both home and hell. Perhaps the trouble was always that Veronica could never quite sever her connection with Neptune. Her friends, Wallace and Mac, they would come visit her and never expect her to return the favour. They had plans to get out themselves when college was through, and plans were made for road-trips, vacations, and the like. All lies, Veronica knew, but she told them all the same.

The Russian Mob bided their time, as she had a feeling they might. Keeping tabs on them was never easy, but the couple of contacts she'd made at the FBI those three years ago, when life still held some semblance of meaning for her, they helped her out. Gorius Sorokin held a grudge, and Veronica knew it. He didn't have much to want to get her for, though Logan had acted in her stead the day he wailed on Gory in front of the Heart College populace. He was her attack dog for lack of a better phrase, but it was him alone that had been dubbed dead that fateful day. Logan Echolls, the only man Veronica had ever truly loved enough, besides her father.

It was Logan that brought her back to Neptune, though he didn't know it, not even now as she gunned down the highway, just as fast as the speed limit would allow. He lay unconscious in the back seat of the rental car, and Veronica checked every few minutes that he hadn't fallen and was in fact still breathing.

It was the easiest way to do this. He only would have argued if she tried to reason with him. He always thought he was so tough, and he was going to have to be now. Hopefully he would cope with the shock okay when he woke up and she had to explain all this to him. Veronica wasn't even sure how she was going to begin. She had just given up everything she had left for a guy she hadn't seen in two years and hadn't dated in longer. Not that she had much to give up anyway...

"Veronica?" his voice was wobbly at best as he opened his eyes and stared at the back of a familiar blonde head.

"No," she replied flatly, eyes barely glancing at him in the rear-view, "It's Elle now, Mrs Elle McKendrick, and you're Mr Joseph McKendrick," she said, one had going to the seat beside her and then tossing a wallet over into the back seat, "Married out of high school, both with clean drivers licences, no previous convictions..." she rattled off like a pro.

Logan stared in wonder at the wallet he barely caught as he sat himself up straight. Here was an ID with his picture and a name he never heard before until today. He had a credit card too, a drivers licence, a wedding picture with a familiar bride, and suddenly he noticed the band of gold on the third finger of his left hand.

"But..." he began, his head fuzzy at best and confusion not making it better, "Veronica...?"

"Elle!" she snapped at him, the man who used to be Logan but apparently wasn't allowed to be anymore. "Did you not hear anything I just said?" she asked him, slamming a hand on the steering wheel in frustration.

The newly named Joseph McKendrick just stared a moment, first at the evidence in his hands that he was a different person now, then out the window at the scenery flashing by, and finally at Veronica Mars, who would never answer to that name again.

She had come back, for him and him alone, to rescue him. He hadn't even known he was in danger, not really, though he could guess how she had figured on him needing her. The Russian Mob collected debts, ensured loose ends were tied up. Gory Sorokin held a grudge, and he was going to come for him one day, even Logan knew that, though he had pretended not to care up to now. The information he gleaned from Wallace and Mac, which was spotty at best, suggested Veronica was always keeping an eye on things - connections in the FBI, sources that were once friends of her Dads, etc.

There were a million questions in Logan's head, some he felt he should know the answer to and others he would have to wait to ask. Now it seemed wasn't the time for any of that. The only obvious thing he might need to know right now was where they were headed, but honestly, Logan couldn't find it in him to care.

Veronica pulled up at the intersection, shifting the seats so he could climb into the front beside her. He didn't need telling twice and was soon parked in the passenger side, his head swimming some from the sudden movement. Even Veronica in her serious business-like mode noticed and winced some at his evident pain.

"You okay?" she checked, before her eyes returned to the road - the lights still said red.

"Thank you," was Logan's answer, apparently not caring about his health so much as all she had done to ensure his safety. "Seriously, thank you," he repeated.

"Yeah, well," she replied without even glancing his way, "we're not altogether free from this yet."

"I'm with you," shrugged Logan, staring out of the windshield at the world anew. "That's all I ever needed," he told her.

Veronica almost missed the lights turning green as her eyes shifted to see Logan in profile, smiling in spite of the peril they might still have to face. He had a point. She had lost so much and thought she could deal, and yet when it came down to the wire, his life mattered too much to just let him slip away from her.

"Okay," she said, pulling herself together as she put the car into gear. "Let's get out of here," she declared, driving them over the state line and into a future together, however uncertain.


	5. Green Eyed Monster on a White Horse

**Title** **: Green Eyed Monster on a White Horse**

 **Prompt by** **: fleurb**

 **Rating** **: PG-13**

 **Setting** **: AU post-series**

 **Word Count** **: 944**

 **Prompt** **: 'Hey, Jealousy' by The Gin Blossoms.**

She ran out of the hall and into the street, hoping to God nobody was following and already knowing everyone would be. Tripping down the steps, she was lucky not to break her neck between the high heels and long skirts, but she made it unscathed and immediately began scanning the area for the best means of escape.

"Hey, Veronica!" he called from the other side of the road, leant back against his car like he was just waiting for this moment - maybe he had been.

Pelting across the street, she didn't think twice, sliding into the passenger side the moment Logan got the door open. She was a fool, for so many reasons right now, but she couldn't care as her friend hopped back into the driver's side and squealed the tyres as he got them the hell out of town.

"Nice dress," he said after a while, "Special occasion?"

"Apparently not as special as I thought," she replied flatly, unpinning the veil from her flowing hair, and yanking at the yard or so of white material around her feet when it caught on her heels, "Logan, red light!" she declared as she glanced up and he missed it anyway, sailing across an intersection and narrowly avoiding a crash.

"Damn!" he cursed, though he couldn't really explain himself without admitting he had been staring at the bride beside him, still as stunned by her beauty as ever, "Well, it's not like the cops are gonna chase us around, not today," he grinned, in spite of how serious the situation ought to be.

Veronica sighed. There were perks to being the Sheriff's daughter, and downsides too. Tales of her non-marriage would be all over the local rag as yet another screw up for the Mars family, even though this one wasn't entirely her fault.

"Second on the left and..." she started giving directions until Logan shot her an unimpressed look.

"I know where you live, Veronica," he told her, and she sighed heavily at that as she flopped back hard into the seat.

"Of course you do," she huffed, "You know _everything_ " she over-emphasised. "And before me apparently," she added sadly.

It broke Logan's heart all over again to see her so upset and trying so bravely to hide it. Of course, he had expected to have that particular Logan part shattered today anyway, though for different reasons. Miss Mars should be a Mrs by now, and though that clearly wasn't going to happen now, it didn't stop Logan feeling awful, even if none of this could actually be construed as his fault for a change.

There was silence until the car was pulled up outside the house that belonged to Sheriff and Miss Mars. Three years now since they moved out of their grotty apartment, and Veronica had been planning another move next, into her first grown-up home, with her fiance-turned-husband. That last part hadn't quite happened, and it hit her full force now that her whole life had been turned upside down one more time. In an uncharacteristically weak moment, Veronica Mars broke down.

"Veronica..." Logan felt awful but hearing the sympathy in his voice and feeling his hand laid comfortingly on her shoulder only made her cry harder into her hands, "I am so sorry" he told her.

"It's not really your fault," she sniffed, trying to stop being such a baby but not really managing it, "If I'd listened when you tried to tell me what he was... Oh, Logan, I'm the one who should be sorry," she told him, all red-faced and tearful. "I really thought you... that you were just jealous" she admitted with a painful laugh, at least until he answered her.

"I was, I am," he confirmed, her eyes returning to meet his in a second. "I know that's probably not what you wanna hear right now, or I don't know, maybe it is," he shifted awkwardly in the driver's seat, "but it never stopped being true, it can't," he promised her. "I love you, Veronica, and that's not gonna change, no matter how many times we break up, or how many other guys you almost marry."

The look on her face was shock and awe, and just a little bit of something akin to relief. Maybe this was all she wanted to hear all this time. Maybe if Logan had been honest sooner she never would have gotten as far as walking down the aisle today and hearing some bitch object to the marriage on the grounds that she was carrying the groom's child.

"You have to know, Ronnie, that I would marry you right now if you wanted me to," Logan promised her, his hand going to her tear-stained cheek and making her look at him when she tried to turn away, "I love you."

She couldn't say it back, though she probably already knew she felt it. Too much had happened today, too many emotions were swirling around in her head and her heart. Still, he had helped her today, perhaps in more ways than even he truly realised, and for that she was truly grateful.

"Thank you, Logan," she said, with a shake in her voice she couldn't help as she leaned over to plant a kiss on his cheek.

Just as soon as it was done, she was gone, running from the car to her home and hurrying inside without ever looking back, but Logan had hope now. He could live with being the jealous ex for the rest of his life if he had to, just so long as he could be Veronica's hero too, once in a while.


	6. Honey, I'm Home

**Title** **: Honey, I'm Home**

 **Prompt by** **: southrnbygrace**

 **Rating** **: PG-13**

 **Setting** **: AU post-series**

 **Word Count** **: 658**

 **Prompt** **: an embarrassing situation between Logan and Sheriff Mars regarding Veronica.**

Keith Mars was tired, beyond tired actually, and oh so glad to be home! Sure, going out catching bail jumpers before they hit the border was a good thing for the cash it brought, but it was hard, tiring work that he was starting to think he might be too old for. He really should have gotten a hotel for tonight, in fact he told Veronica he wouldn't be home until tomorrow, but the idea of his own bed appealed and the drive hadn't seemed so very long. Maybe he had been wrong about that last part, but here he

was now, late in the evening, just glad to see his own house and...

There was music playing. Music that didn't sound like something Veronica would have blaring from the stereo in his absence. Keith frowned as he dropped his bag in the living room and headed towards the hallway. There was a corkscrew with a cork attached on the kitchen counter, and he thought he could smell flowers or maybe scented candle, it was hard to tell.

With his brain on a go-slow and not expecting anyone but Veronica to be home, Keith got somewhat of a shock when he advanced towards her room and found the door wide open... with a naked man laying on his daughter's bed.

"Good evening, Logan," he said flatly.

A sea of curse words flew out of the teenagers mouth as he scrambled to his feet, snatching the comforter off the bed to cover his pride. Rose petals fell to the carpet like confetti, as Logan started apologising at a mile a minute.

As mad as Keith ought to be about this, he found there was a terrible knot of laughter rising in his throat and he made a big deal of turning his back on Logan as he turned off the romantic music coming from Veronica's CD player.

"Really, sir, it's not what it looks like..." the younger guy was still insisting when he looked back at him.

"It's not?" Keith checked, as he pulled up the desk chair and sat down, "Because it looks like you were waiting here to seduce my daughter," he said, waiting curiously to see what poor Logan would answer.

Romantic music, rose petals, candles, and a serious amount of naked, and he really expected Veronica's PI father to believe he was here for homework study?

Logan floundered as he tried to come up with an explanation, then caught the smirk on Keith's lips that he could no longer hide and realised he was playing him for a fool on purpose.

"Well, sir," he started over, sitting down on the edge of the bed and crossing his legs, forcing himself to rearrange the blanket covering him so nothing showed, "Veronica and I, it's kind of an anniversary," he explained, "And she told me you were away until tomorrow so..."

"So you kids planned a romantic night in?" he guessed, "Where is Veronica anyway?"

"Actually, the plan was all me," Logan admitted, "A surprise for our favourite girl."

"Well, apparently you worked a two for one deal," Keith teased him as he got to his feet, "Your ingenuity certainly surprised _me_ ," he confirmed with a nod as he headed for the door at last.

Logan breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn't decided to kill him. Sure, it was all legal and decent. He and Veronica were both well on the way to being twenty-one and were completely committed to each other this time around. Mr Mars couldn't really object to them doing what came natural, but being caught like that was not in the least bit fun.

"Oh, and son," said Keith as he stuck his head back around the door and caused Logan to jump again, "A word of advice," he told him in a distinctly fatherly way. "Next time you do something like this, do it in your own home, not mine!"


	7. Back to You

**Title** **: Back to You**

 **Prompt by** **: hannasus**

 **Rating** **: PG-13**

 **Setting** **: AU post-series**

 **Word Count** **: 1,007**

 **Prompt** **: Backup**

Five years, that was how long she had been away. It some ways it felt like a lifetime to Veronica Mars and in others just like yesterday that she was down here on Dog Beach walking Backup. These days it was Backup II that pulled at the leash, since her old friend had passed away a while back now. It wasn't the same, but it was okay, she loved this little guy just as much as her previous companion. It was the good thing about dogs, they weren't just man's best friend, but woman's as well, and they never let you down, never strayed from your side until nature took them away in the end.

Veronica smiled as she breathed the salty air and hurried to keep up with the excitable young pup she had come out walking with. Not much had changed here, most places looked exactly the same, and so did some of the people, though she hadn't seen many she knew yet. She had only been home a couple of days and most of that time she had spent catching up with her Dad and being overly glad to be back where she belonged. The FBI was her dream, so she thought, but when it came to the crunch, she couldn't live that life. She belonged here, with her father, with her friends, in a job she knew and loved. The PI gig wasn't as glamorous as the movies suggested, but it was all she really wanted.

"Hey, boy. What's up with you today?" she asked young Backup as he pulled on his leash. "Wanna run free, huh?" she smiled as she knelt down as his level and made a fuss of her good boy. "Okay, just for a while," she told him, letting him off the leash as he so wanted her to.

She was slightly surprised by how fast he ran away, and ever mindful of him not coming back somehow. Veronica wasn't sure why but she just had an urge to run after her dog instead of letting him come back when he was ready. The tide wasn't coming in, there were no obviously dangerous looking people, she just had to do it. She hurried along the shoreline, calling for Backup to slow down. She was a little breathless when she finally caught up to him, and not just from the running when she realised who he had run to and was currently being petted by.

"Logan?" she was suprised to see him, and yet she wasn't sure why.

Veronica was well aware that her ex was still around, still living in Neptune, in fact she was told he even had a house here now, instead of the hotel suite he had lived in for far too long. Still, to have Backup II run to this guy and allow him to make such a fuss of him, that wasn't exactly a normal reaction. Sure, original Backup would react that way, but this dog never even met Logan as far as she knew!

"Hey," he said from his place crouched down on the sand.

"Hi," Veronica responded with a smile she couldn't help.

He hadn't changed that much, despite how long it had been since she saw him last, when she left Neptune thinking it might well be forever and they hugged and let go of all the badness that had happened between them over the years. They hadn't been together at the end, not even really friends, just people who had known each other, loved each other, and now had to move on for both their sakes.

Logan watched Veronica as she reattached Backup's lead and berated him from disturbing people he didn't know like that. She was embarrassed somehow, in the cutest way, reminding him of when he first knew her, half a lifetime ago or more. She was the same and yet different, what he expected and not. Honestly, he heard she might be back in town, and half-wondered if this was the right place to be to accidentally-on-purpose run into her. Still, he couldn't quite believe his luck.

"So..." she said as she stood straight again and faced him, shielding her eyes from the bright sun over his shoulder. "Um, how've you been, Logan?" she asked, an inane and dumb question and she knew it, but right now no matter how hard she tried to think of something smart to say, she continued to come up empty.

"I've been... good," he nodded unconvincingly. "Kinda hard to sum up five years in a sentence," he considered then, and they both laughed lightly at the strangeness of the moment. "Hey, you wanna go somewhere, get something to eat, maybe?" he asked then, straight out before his nerve went. "Y'know to catch up?"

Veronica opened her mouth to immediately refuse but soon thought better of it. This wasn't the Logan she walked away from years ago. He had to have grown up, just as she had, and they were two different people that might just be able to form some kind of relationship now. A friendship perhaps. Maybe more? She was crazy to think it and she was well aware of that, and yet before her brain had time to think much more she was nodding and accepting Logan's offer of food and time to talk and catch up on things.

Neither knew what the other was thinking, though their ideas on what was happening here were shockingly similar as they walked further up the beach together. Maybe it was time they got to know each other again. If they started from the beginning, there was a chance to build something so much better than they ever had before. The truth was, they both really missed each other these past few years. Now she had come home to him, as much as the town in which she had spent so much of her life. Maybe they were destined to always end up together eventually. Maybe they really were epic after all.


	8. Free At Last

**Title** **: Free At Last**

 **Prompt by** **: southrnbygrace**

 **Rating** **: PG**

 **Setting** **: Season 3**

 **Word Count** **: 621**

 **Prompt** **: camping; Logan**

It really didn't matter that they weren't dating. She knew what day it was, she couldn't not, and when Parker called in a panic and Dick had no information, Veronica immediately assured everyone it'd be fine. She knew why he was gone, and she had a few ideas as to where. It wasn't being a P.I that helped her on this one, it was just knowing him.

Logan was sat on top of a hill, looking out over the town below. There was a tent pitched a little ways behind him, and a fire built and burning, despite the fact the sun had yet to set and the weather was warm. Veronica didn't question, didn't ask. She just got out of her car and walked over, sitting down on the grass beside him.

"You had to figure it out," he said with a hint of his usual smirk.

It wasn't a question or an accusation, just a statement of fact. Veronica still said nothing, she didn't need to. She glanced sideways at Logan, elbows on his knees, staring out at the place he had called home since age twelve, beyond it the water that had taken his last hope of a happy family home.

"Y'know, there were times when she was so happy," he began to explain, and Veronica silently listened, watching the horizon just as he was. "When I was a kid, she had this whole plan about me not becoming some spoilt brat. He never cared one way or the other, but she wanted me to have a real all-American childhood," he smiled almost genuinely at the memory.

"We'd find a secluded park, and run around for hours, throwing and catching a ball, or chasing the ducks off the pond. She would laugh until she couldn't breathe, grab me up in her arms and tell me... tell me I meant the whole world and more. She loved me so much."

When his voice cracked, Veronica reached out a hand to cover his own, fighting her own tears that she hadn't expected as he grabbed onto her fingers.

"The first time she said we were going camping, I seriously thought she'd lost her mind," he laughed painfully then. "My mom under canvas? With the bugs and no running water and everything? She had to have gone crazy... but she loved it," he sighed, wiping under one eye with the back of his free hand.

"She taught me to pitch the tent, build a fire, even catch fish from the river," he smiled then, comforted by the happy memories nobody could ever take away. "I asked her if she'd been a girl scout, but she said no. Her father, my Grandpa Lester, he taught her everything she knew, and now she wanted me to know. 'You never know when these skills will come in handy, Logan'," he quoted, almost choking on the words by now.

Veronica moved in a little closer, let her head drop onto his shoulder.

"It took all these years, but now I have a reason to know this stuff," he sighed softly, and she was sure she wouldn't hear if she wasn't so close. "Now I can do this and... and remember her, just like she was then, when she was so happy and free. Free at last."

The words he spoke were also engraved on the lighter clutched in his hand, the one he probably lit his fire with. Veronica remembered a conversation on her doorstep two years ago and shivered from more than just the cold of night finally descending.

"Free at last," she echoed, allowing herself one tear.

The rest belonged to Logan, and she held him tight as they came down like rain.


End file.
